History whats the story on 62 belair bubble tops ?

No.
But seeing anything can be a bubbletop now, I'm hereby declaring this as one:

 

The Nascar conversion referred to a couple times in this thread was built by the Wood Brothers. It is in their museum in Stuart, VA. Saw it about six months ago. As I recall it was a '62 square back with a Starliner roof.

Phil

 

Chevy called them Sport Coupes ( bubbletops )

 

59 buick bubble top. has a 401 nailhead , can be bought for $1000

 

I suppose since Chevrolet didn't call them bubble tops Chevy doesn't own the Nickname. So I herby declare that any vehicle no matter what make & model with the same style of top is indeed a bubble top. Its just that simple.

 

And I will go on record as saying the ‘59-‘60 rooflines are just that, a roof and back light not to be confused with the later ‘61- ‘62 bubble tops. To my eye at least they are different. Similar but not matching.

 

That was my point
1965 Corvair bubbletop:

 

"Lunatic fringe, we know their out there".

Mark, that is a good looking car!
Not sure who originally coined it, but for me, hearing "bubbletop" relating to cars for the first time was in the early/mid 80's.
The Wall Street musclecar *****s invaded the hobby and the 62 BelAir 409 cars were their poster child and "bubbletop" became their buzzword.

 

My 1966 Hollander 32ND edition in the gl*** section page 200 list the 61 Biuck 2 dr htp windshield as a 2204 door gl***2206 vent2205 rear side window2207 and back gl*** as 2208. Then on page 202 It list the exact same gl*** for all positions on a 62 Chevrolet bel air 2 dr htp. Just used those numbered gl*** on the Belair 2 dr htp. So now tell me the61 Buick 2 dr htp was not a bubble top.

 

Your Vin number will decode as V8 or L6 not the cowl tag. The cowl tag has nothing to do with decoding what power plant the vehicle came with.

 

I agree they are all bubble tops that used that same back gl***. Just not Chevy bubble tops. Actually I prefer the term we actually used in the 60,s Fish Bowls.

 

The 62 Ford roof was made by Ford to put on the Sunliner. The top was called a Starlifter. See the attached article I cut from the Charlotte Observer in 1962.

Ford made enough tops to qualify them for elgibility for Nascar. The did run one race, Atlanta I think but I'm not sure on that.

 

My ex-61 catalina. In the 60s_70s these were common on the streets. We never called 'em bubbletops, just hardtops. I remember in the early 70s in S.E. Portland there was a green 61 Ventura with early ford cross-spring suspension under the front...sat really high in the front. Musta handled like a dump truck.

 

Well seeing you pictured a 60 Buick, and he was comparing 59-60 to 61-62, he never said a 61 wasn't. 59-60 is what he was talking about.

 

.........It was a '62 like you said, Phil.

 

Lafayette Ford looks like maybe the Holman Moody version?

Phil

 

.........Looks that way, Phil.

 

Then there was the Starlift......

 

Yes I posted a 60. actually a 59 seems the Facebook seller don't know what year it actually is. And yes its not as bubbled as a 61. Im not the gl*** expert that 421 6 speed appears to be. I simply remembered seeing what I posted on a earlier page was a 62 buick with the same bubble top as the chevy had. and I seen it over 5 decades ago it might have been a 61? Over the years a lot of Chevy and other GM brands shared the same roof & gl***. The 55 Pontiac and 55 chevy Htps are one example. So to me its logical that if a 61 or 62 Chevy fishbowl has the same roof and gl*** as another GM make. Then the other make is a Fishbowl also. And not one smidgen of this entire debate will remove or put any nickles in anyones pocket.

 

I had a 60 starliner. Rusty came from Rockford Ill. Junked it & sold the body for s****. Still have the two bbl 352 engine.

 

Buick Olds Pontiac and Chevy all used the 2208 Fish Bowl rear gl*** in 61. in 62 0nly chevy used it

 

Exactly right, Denny.
When the young bucks announcing at BJ first saw a 62 BA ht, they learned a new term, and they couldn't help themselves..along with "barn find " , "patina"...

 

.........I would have to concur, Mark.

 

Us older people are loosing the battle of correctness. A "61" Buick 2 door hardtop could be considered a "Bubbletop", but it was the only hardtop available as a 2 door. The "62" Chevy 2 door hardtop could be had in either the formal or bubble top. Anybody who knows there cars, shouldn't need to use the term "bubbletop", to describe a "61" Buick 2 door hardtop.

 

Did I say anywhere in my post the information came from the cowl tag (actually called the trim tag). The first 5 digits in a 62 VIN denotes first, year of manufacture. Next, Division. Next, engine. Last two, Model Series Designation. Mine reads 21637. This Decodes as 1962, Chevrolet,V8, Bel Air sport coupe. The VIN should read 21537 for a six cylinder. I spoke with a Chevrolet engineer years ago about the discrepancy. His reply was " We built autos, not historical do***ents".

 

Dragging up an old thread, but I got into a discussion about these ‘62 Bubbletops, and the question was, were there any with SBC’s? Something tells me I saw an article stating they only came as a 6 or 409, but no 283 or 327. Is this accurate or hogwash?

 

^Sounds like hooey.

 

No. All power plants were available.
NHRA lists all combos acceptable in Stock.
Further stirring the pot, I raced a 61 Impala 2 dr. ht in 1972. Never once did anyone refer to it as a bubbletop.
It was generally understood that the 62 B/A was called a bubbletop to differentiate it from the Impala h.t..
Of course, 99% of them in drag racing were 409 /409 cars.
As I said earlier in this thread, this "everything is a bubbletop" , if you want it to be, is a fairly recent phenomenon
BTW, while I'm here...All Chevy II's are not Novas.
153 Chevy 4 cylinders are not "Iron Dukes" . ;-)